To get a funeral plan, you choose an FCA-authorised provider, pick a plan and a way to pay, and sign up online, by phone, in person or through a funeral director, depending on what that provider offers. Most providers also send a brochure or guide first, and you can usually cancel for a refund within a set period.
If you are arranging a funeral now rather than planning ahead, GOV.UK's first step is to check whether the person who died made arrangements, which could include a prepaid plan or life insurance. It also says a Funeral Expenses Payment could help someone on certain benefits who needs help paying for a funeral they are arranging; if the person who died had a pre-paid plan, it is capped at £120 towards things the plan leaves out. If you live in Scotland, you apply for a Funeral Support Payment instead, which has replaced the Funeral Expenses Payment there.
Would a conversation help before you choose? Leave a few details in the form here; an FCA-authorised broker can then ring you back, without charge, to talk through funeral plans and funeral cover.
How do you buy a funeral plan?
Each provider describes its own routes, and they overlap. The table gives what each says on its own page, as read on 20 October 2026 (Co-op from a capture of 7 October 2026).
| Provider | How it says you can buy |
|---|---|
| Golden Charter | Secure online checkout, or a free call on 0808 169 4534 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday) |
| Co-op Funeralcare | Online, by phone, in person at a funeral home, or by requesting a callback |
| Dignity | Online, over the phone, or with your local funeral director |
| Simplicity Cremations | Set up online in a few minutes, or talk it through with its staff first |
| Pure Cremation | A call line for plan quotes and queries; the terms read do not set out the other routes |
Dignity's phone line is open Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm and Saturdays until noon, and Co-op's page says a callback comes "within 24 hours".
Applying is not always the same moment as being covered. Golden Charter's terms (April 2026) say it will tell you whether it has accepted your application within 30 days of receiving the completed form, and that your plan "does not take effect until we have confirmed acceptance in writing".
Under the FCA's rules, a firm selling at a distance must give you its distance-marketing information in good time before you are bound, and you can ask for the terms on paper at any point while the contract runs (FPCOB 5.1.3R and 5.1.16R). Before paying, check the provider is authorised: how to use the FCA's Firm Checker is on our comparison of funeral plans, and how plan money is protected is on how much a funeral plan costs.
How do you request a funeral plan brochure?
Most of the providers read offer something free to send or download. Golden Charter's plans page invites you to complete a form for its "free, no obligation info pack", says the pack should arrive "in the post within 5 working days", and offers a free call as the alternative. Co-op has a brochure page, saying its brochure "explains in detail what is and isn't included in each plan, as well as the different payment options available". Dignity offers a free guide to download, or "a printed copy", and Simplicity a free guide you can order.
A brochure is marketing material, not the contract. The document that sets out what you are buying is the funeral plan summary, which the FCA requires to be a short, standalone document. Ask for it and for the full terms before you pay.
What do you choose when you set up a plan?
Four decisions come up with every provider.
- The plan type. Ranges differ: Dignity, for example, offers four plans or a bespoke one. What each includes, and what falls to the family, is set out side by side in our funeral plan comparison, with list prices on the cost page.
- How you pay. Golden Charter's terms describe three options: a single payment, twelve monthly payments, or instalments over an agreed set period. Dignity says you can pay in one go or spread the cost for up to 5 years with no extra charge. Simplicity's page says an instalment plan is available and that fees apply. Whether your age limits the instalment options is covered on the age limit page.
- Who you name. Pure Cremation's terms explain that a buyer can nominate someone for the provider to talk to when the planholder dies, can change that person at any time, and does not have to choose anyone.
- The funeral director. Golden Charter's terms say it will appoint a selected funeral director no later than 30 days after the start date, and that you can ask to change it at any time before you die, though a change may cost extra. The FCA's rules require the provider to arrange the funeral within 30 days of purchase and, once it has, to send you the funeral director's name, address and contact details within 2 business days (FPCOB 10.1.3R and 10.1.4R).
If it would help to hear how the choices fit together, a short call with a broker is available through the form on this page; you are not committed to buying anything.
What paperwork and cancellation rights do you get?
The funeral plan summary must cover, among other things, the plan's significant features and main exclusions, whether it can be changed and at what cost, price and payment information, the consequences of non-payment, "the existence and duration of the right of cancellation", how to complain, and whether compensation is available if the firm cannot meet its liabilities (FPCOB 9 Annex 1). After you buy, Golden Charter sends a plan documents folder and a membership card, and Dignity a planholder pack with a copy for your family.
The FCA's cancellation rule, FPCOB 13.2.1R, reads in full:
"A customer has a right within the longer of: (1) 30 days; or (2) 7 days of being notified of the appointed funeral services provider (FPCOB 10.1.4R); or in the case of an instalment payment funeral plan contract, 30 days or the moratorium period, whichever is longer; or (3) in the case of an instalment payment funeral plan contract, the moratorium period, to cancel the funeral plan contract, without giving any reason and without being required to pay any amount to do so."
Three conditions sit alongside it. The period begins on the day you are told the contract has been concluded or, if later, the day you receive the terms and the other required pre-contractual information (FPCOB 13.2.6R). The right "does not apply to a funeral plan contract under which a redemption request has been made or the funeral has been provided" (FPCOB 13.2.5R). And the firm must let you give notice "via the same medium by which the customer purchased the funeral plan contract" (FPCOB 13.2.7R). The FCA's guidance adds that a firm may give longer or additional cancellation rights voluntarily (FPCOB 13.2.4G).
Each provider also states its own cancellation terms. In each one's words:
| Provider (source) | What it says |
|---|---|
| Golden Charter (terms, April 2026) | Single payment or 12 monthly payments: cancel within 30 days of the start date for a full refund. Instalment option: within 12 months of the start date. No reason needed; cancel by free call on 0800 833 800, email or post |
| Co-op (capture, 7 October 2026) | Paying in full, or monthly over 6 or 12 months: a full refund if you cancel within 30 days of purchase. Monthly instalments: within 12 months of purchase |
| Dignity (page read 20 October 2026) | "a 30-day cooling-off period from the date you take it out", with everything paid refunded |
| Pure Cremation (terms read 20 October 2026) | Single payment: 30 days for a full refund. Monthly instalments, for a full refund: before 1 year on a 1-year plan; before 2 years on plans of 2 years or more |
| Simplicity (page read 20 October 2026) | You can cancel at any time, without giving a reason; no cancellation fee on plans bought from 5 October 2026 |
What each provider keeps if you cancel later is covered on cancelling a prepaid funeral plan.
Who should know about the plan, and can you hold more than one?
A plan only helps if someone knows it exists. Golden Charter recommends telling "your family or friends" you have taken out a plan, and says a nominated representative gets a letter soon after purchase. Dignity says to keep the plan somewhere safe and let a family member or friend know where to find it. Under the FCA's rules, the notice naming the funeral director goes to your nominated representative at the same time as it goes to you, unless an exception in FPCOB 9.3.7R applies (FPCOB 10.1.5R).
If you are thinking of a second plan for your own funeral, ask the provider directly whether it would sell you one and what would happen to the plan you already hold. Under its demands and needs rules (FPCOB 8.2.5R), a firm deciding whether a plan fits must consider, among other things, whether someone has already provided for that person's funeral. Plans for different people are a separate matter: Simplicity says some people buy one plan for themselves and another for a partner, and Dignity says you can take out a plan for a partner, a parent or anyone else aged 18 or over. Buying for someone else has its own page, and couples sharing one plan are covered on joint funeral plans.
When you would like to compare plans with a person rather than a page, the form here arranges a free call from an FCA-authorised broker.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a funeral plan online?
Yes, at most of the providers read: Golden Charter, Co-op, Dignity and Simplicity each describe an online route. The table above gives each one's other routes.
Can I make a funeral plan for myself?
Yes. Golden Charter says its plans are available to all UK residents, regardless of age or state of health, and you record your own wishes when you set one up. Age rules on paying by instalments are on the age limit page.
How do I get a funeral plan brochure or booklet?
Ask the provider: Golden Charter, Co-op, Dignity and Simplicity each offer a free brochure, info pack or guide. Golden Charter says its pack should arrive by post within 5 working days.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Get help with funeral costs (Funeral Expenses Payment), read 20 October 2026. GOV.UK benefit page
- GOV.UK, What to do after someone dies: arrange the funeral, read 20 October 2026. GOV.UK guidance
- mygov.scot, Funeral Support Payment, read 20 October 2026. Scottish Government page
- Golden Charter, Key Features and Terms and Conditions (April 2026), read 20 October 2026. Golden Charter terms (PDF)
- Golden Charter, Pre-Paid Funeral Plans, read 20 October 2026. Golden Charter plans page
- Pure Cremation, Funeral plan terms and conditions, read 20 October 2026. Pure Cremation terms page
- Dignity, Funeral plans, read 20 October 2026. Dignity plans page
- Simplicity Cremations, Funeral plans, read 20 October 2026. Simplicity plans page
- Co-op Funeralcare, Pre-paid Funeral Plans (archived 7 October 2026), read 20 October 2026. Wayback Machine capture
- FCA Handbook, FPCOB 5.1, 8.2, 9 Annex 1, 10.1 and 13.2 (each in force since 29 July 2022), read 20 October 2026. FPCOB 13.2 on the FCA Handbook